Christmas Eve and Christmas Recap

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas, we had a great time, just a quick recap of what happened around here.

I broke my camera lens on Friday...the lens all of a sudden wouldn't retract. I was SUPER bummed

1. because I felt like it just stopped working, and I hadn't broken it

2. We were going to be celebrating my husbands birthday

3. Christmas morning...and no camera..BOO!

Anyway my dad is like a huge tech nerd thank god, and fixed it.

Friday night...Christmas Eve

We celebrated my husbands birthday by going out just the two of us to NYC. My parents watched Kennedy, and they were all too thrilled to tuck her in on Christmas Eve

I thought a bow in my hair was all too appropriate for this time of year.

We went to Bar Americain which is one of Bobby Flays restaurants in the city. My husband is a huge Bobby fan. I of course didn't take any pictures while we were there, because I was enjoying myself and just forgot.

           

If you are curious about the restaurant or the menu here is the link

Bar Americain

We had a great time, and my husband really enjoyed his steak

I "tried" to take a couple of pictures from the car to show you how pretty the city is at Christmas time

Because they do it BIG in the BIG apple. Is that the biggest candy cane you've ever seen, or what?

The top of this whole building is covered in lights...so pretty!

And I thought these Candy lollipops were really cute...And I think they could be easily re-created for a little girls sweets party. Idea for my daughters 2nd bday party??

And many people don't think of trees in the city, but most of them have twinkling lights this time of year, and its kind of beautiful and magical. But I'm sort of a sucker for white lights. I think they should be in every restaurant all year round, they give me the warm and fuzzies.

And then Christmas was a blast. These were all of her presents. And all combined they were less than $30. A book from target, 4 puzzles bought on sale, some plastic flashcards for the bath, 3 cute hand puppets. Next year will be bigger, because she's only 1, and she doesn't really get it.

I want her to always have great memories. But I also think kids have way too much, more than they need, and that can make them ungrateful, and spoiled, and often easily bored.

So we talked about how we would try to always keep the presents simple. And how if we fill a room with presents we'll feel the need to fill them at least as high the next year, if not higher

We talked about how we want the toys to stimulate creativity and learning, and how its not our job to give her everything she wants, and how its good to want something and not get it.

Shes still too young to understand, but it was nice to talk about what our family is going to value. So we can be ready for next year, so we can be ready for when she can voice what she wants.

Then we all got dressed and went to my parents for lunch, and his parents for dinner. They only live 10 minutes away from each other, so it means more time with family and less time traveling which is always nice.

How was your Christmas?

Did you do anything special on Christmas Eve?